Improvement in corset-clasps



J. M. VAN ORDEN.

Game's-Clasp.

Patented March 12, 1878.

Iwe

W/TNESSES.

N. PETERS, PHOTO-LITHOGRIAPHEE, WASHINGTON, D. O

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE};

JOHN M. VAN ORDEN,

OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

IMPROVEMENT IN CORSET-QLASPS.

. Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 201,307, dated March 12, we; application filed February 18, 1878.

and useful Improvements in Corset Stays and Clasps, of which the following is a specifica tion;v V v p The object of this invention is to provide for corsets a means for the ready attachment to-.

gether and disengagement of the busks in front, and which, while holding the corsets securely closed, permits the body of the wearerto bend backward or forward with comfort, and without extra strain upon the clasps, or liability to break the busks.

To this end my invention consists in providing the corset with an inner busk having at its center a stud for engaging with a central clasp or eye on an opposite or top or outer busk, and having also at each end a flat hook for receiving the bared or uncovered ends of said top or outer busk, which are retained in said hooks by the tension of the corset about the body, but have free longitudinal play, so that the ends of the two busks may slip upon each other, to permit a comfortable and natural bending of the body forward or backward, while at the same time there is no extra strain .thrown upon the fastenings, nor liability of outer busk having its ends not inclosed by the fabric of the corset, but covered by celluloid or similar material, and provided with a rigid central fastening device, and an inner busk having arigid central fastening device, adapted to engage with that of the top busk, and provided at its ends with loops or hooks, adapted to receive the ends of said top or outer busk, which have free longitudinal play within said loops or hooks, whereby the corset-fastening is given a neat and finished appearance, and chafing of the fabric by said fastenings pre vented.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 represents a frontview of the two corset-busks constructed with fastenings according to my invention, and covered, as when in use in a corset. Fig. 2 is a section through one of the hooks on line 00 m, Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is an edge View of the busks as when the body of the wearer is erect and Fig. 4 shows the relative.

busk is provided with a stud, b, and near each end with flat hooks c c, rigidlyattached, and open toward the back edge of the busk.

The top'busk A, near its middle portion, is provided with a rigidly-attached eye, a, projecting beyond its front edge, but has no other fastening device. When these busks are attached to a corset, they are covered somewhat, in the usual manner, by the fabric thereof,

the hooks c c of the inner busk projecting through the fabric outwardly, while a portion of each end of the outer or top busk is left uncovered by the corset fabric, but is covered with celluloid or similar material, in orderthat these ends may have a neat and finished appearance, and play easily in the hooks 0 0 without chafing the fabric.

When thetwo sides of the corset are clasped together upon the person, the busks are only prevented from slipping endwise bodily by the central stud b and the eye a, which engages therewith, as it will be seen that the bare ends of the top or outer busk may slip freely in a longitudinal direction through their engaginghooks, so that, in Whatever position the body of the wearer bends, there is no counterstrain between the clasps tending to wrench said clasps from their places or to break the busks.

In adjusting the corset, the left hand holds the inner, and preferably broader, busk directlyin frontof the person, and the lower end of the top or outer busk, which is for the righthand side, is inserted in the lower hook, and the eye is then engaged with its stud. When the parts are in this position the upper end of the top or outer busk is easily sprung or slipped with respect to each other; and instead of the open hooks c at the lower end of the inner busk, a loop or flat staple may be used, having both sides open, in order to permit longitudinal slipping of these ends, as shown in Fig. 5.

By clasping the busks together and bending them flatwise, it may be easily determined what length at each end of the top busk should be left uncovered, so that chafing of the fabric may be avoided.

Corsets having clasps which permit longitudinal slipping of the entire busks bodily with respect to each other have heretofore been made, I'am well aware, and it is not the object of my invention to permit this bodily slipping, but to prevent it, while allowing only an easy automatic adjustment of the ends of the busks with relation to each other, as circumstances require, while the sides of the corset are retained in a proper position, and resume an even adjustment at all times when the body of the wearer is erect.

I am also aware that corset-busks have been provided with supplementary springs, lying flatwise therein and fastened at their centers, while their ends are left free. This construction does not permit the busks to slip with respect to each other, but merely re-enforces their elasticity. I lay no claim to such arran gement.

' What I claim is l. A corset fastening consisting of two busks, arranged flatwise one upon the other,

and having their. ends adapted for engagement, so as to slip longitudinally with relation to each other, while their center or middle portions, by means of correspondent fastening devices, are preventedfrom relative longitudinal displacement, substantially as and for the purpose set forth. I

2. In a corset, the combination of the inner busk, having rearwardly-open hooks and an intermediate fastening device, with a top or outerbusk, having its opposite ends uncovered by the fabric of the corset, and provided at its middle portion with a rigid fastening device, for engaging with the correspondin g fastening device of the inner busk, substantially as described, and for the purpose set forth.

3. In a corset-fastening, the combination of the top or outer busk A, having its ends uncovered by the fabric of the corset, but covered with celluloid or similar material, and provided with a central fastening device, with the inner busk, provided with the hooks c 0, and the central fastening device, adapted to engage with that of the top or outer busk, sub; stantially as described, and for the purpose set forth.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of the subscribing witnesses.

JOHN M. VAN ORDEN. 

